Bipolar disorder is a mental health disorder that causes severe mood swings. It can be challenging and emotionally painful to live with bipolar disorder, and this condition can have devastating effects when left untreated. But there are effective, research-based treatments that can help. There is hope if you live with bipolar disorder, and you can achieve remission with the right treatment.
In this article, let’s review what bipolar disorder is and how you can navigate its challenges.
What is bipolar disorder?
First, let’s quickly go over what bipolar disorder is and what it looks like. Bipolar disorder is categorized as a mood disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)[1]. There are two types of bipolar disorder:
- Bipolar I is a more severe type of bipolar disorder in which the person experiences periods of intense mania and usually also experiences depressive episodes (although depression isn’t necessarily a symptom of bipolar I).
- Bipolar II is when people experience mania to less intense degrees (hypomania) and must also experience depressive episodes.
A vast majority of people with either type of bipolar disorder (and everyone with bipolar II) have intense mood swings between two “polar” or opposite moods: mania (or hypomania) and depression.
Mania is a mood defined by intense euphoria, impulsivity, agitation, and energy. During manic episodes, you may:
- Feel intensely happy, euphoric, or overjoyed
- Have racing thoughts
- Talk so quickly that people tell you it’s challenging to follow your train of thought
- Have a decreased need for sleep and may go for several days without sleep
- Be intensely irritable or agitated
- Have hallucinations or delusions, like believing you are God
- Feel invincible or self-important
- Engage in impulsive and dangerous behaviors – like unsafe sex, reckless driving, or spending all of your money – with disastrous consequences
- Do or say things that are out of character for you
Depression is on the other side of the spectrum for people with bipolar disorder. Depressive episodes in bipolar disorder look a lot like they do for people with depression. During a depressive episode, you may:
- Feel sad, hopeless, or irritable almost every day
- Have no energy and feel sluggish or tired easily
- Lose interest in activities you usually enjoy
- Move or speak more slowly than usual
- Experience changes to your sleeping habits, like sleeping not enough or too much
- Experience changes to your eating habits, like eating more or less than you usually do
- Have overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or despair
- Have recurring thoughts about death or suicide
People with bipolar disorder may be in a manic or hypomanic state for several days or weeks, only to have their mood crash down to depression. These extreme mood swings can be very painful and challenging to live with.
Why is living with bipolar disorder so hard?
In addition to the emotional distress bipolar disorder causes, there are other significant life impacts.
- Bipolar disorder can affect your relationships. During a manic episode, you might behave in ways that are out of character or display risky behaviors that offend or hurt your loved ones. During a depressive episode, you may find it challenging to connect with others and prefer to self-isolate.
- Bipolar disorder can affect your financial health. During a manic episode, you could spend large amounts of money you don’t have. This could lead to trouble down the line.
- Bipolar disorder can affect employment. During both manic and depressive episodes, it’s challenging to be productive at work.
- Both manic and depressive episodes can put your life and safety at risk. During mania, you might engage in risky and life-threatening behaviors. During depression, you might feel so overwhelmed by hopelessness that you consider suicide.
- Bipolar disorder causes intense emotional pain and distress. It’s exhausting to go through these intense emotional ups and downs.
Although bipolar disorder is one of the most challenging mental health conditions to live with, there is hope for a better life. You don’t need to live at the beck-and-call of your moods – there is treatment that can help.
Treatment options for bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is a chronic illness, which means there is no “cure” to make it go away permanently. However, there are very effective treatments that can help you manage the symptoms of bipolar disorder and minimize the effect it has on your life.
The standard treatment for bipolar disorder is a combination of psychotherapy (talk therapy) and mood-stabilizing medications[2].
Some treatment options for bipolar disorder include:
- Individual therapy usually uses a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT can help you make connections between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and better identify when you might be having irrational thoughts.
- Medications, including mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotic medications, are often helpful – and sometimes necessary – for managing symptoms of bipolar disorder.
- In some cases, brain stimulation therapies like electroconvulsive therapy could be helpful. These therapies change the structural makeup of the brain and target the areas of the brain impacted by bipolar disorder.
- Psychoeducation about bipolar disorder can help you learn about this condition and how it affects your brain. With this knowledge, you can better understand yourself and how to cope with your symptoms.
- Day treatment programs, like an intensive outpatient program, can provide the structure needed to learn how to manage bipolar disorder. Day treatment programs usually require you to attend treatment for several hours each day.
- Residential treatment programs can be a good choice for people who have the time to commit to healing from the effects of bipolar disorder. You can stay in a treatment program for days, weeks, or even months.
